All religion is from people who want control. It is the bottom of the heap when it comes to those who take authority as truth. Religion has false promises and makes exaggerated claims. Religion can never reform mankind because religion is slavery and it has been used to manipulate and control societies. Raising your children to believe they are members of a religious group is a ludicrous obscenity! Religion poisons everything. This is the heart cry of Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins, the author of the God Delusion and now we have the movie Zeitgeist. As believers we need a theology of who God is and today we will discover His character, His transcendence, His imminence in allowing us to separate fact from fiction, religion from relationship, the lies from the truth.
In three parts, Zeitgeist (which has no credits) attempts to show that 1) Christianity is rehashed pagan sun-worship and is used by the rich and powerful to control people, 2) the 9/11 tragedies were part of an elite conspiracy, and 3) ever since World War I, the ultra-rich have been secretly manufacturing wars and financial collapses to control the populace and to get richer and more powerful. I
The notions that most religions were originally a kind of solar worship, and that the Jesus Christ story recapitulated the mythos of numerous other “dying gods,” were floating around in the late 1700s. Jay Kinney
The main flaw in such arguments is that they are selective and thus superficial. They are selective in that they take only those things that match, and ignore differences. This leads them to be superficial.
In three parts, Zeitgeist (which has no credits) attempts to show that 1) Christianity is rehashed pagan sun-worship and is used by the rich and powerful to control people, 2) the 9/11 tragedies were part of an elite conspiracy, and 3) ever since World War I, the ultra-rich have been secretly manufacturing wars and financial collapses to control the populace and to get richer and more powerful. I
The notions that most religions were originally a kind of solar worship, and that the Jesus Christ story recapitulated the mythos of numerous other “dying gods,” were floating around in the late 1700s. Jay Kinney
The main flaw in such arguments is that they are selective and thus superficial. They are selective in that they take only those things that match, and ignore differences. This leads them to be superficial.
However a more serious problem occurs with the films choice of parallels. Most of the first part of the film is linked in one way or another to Jesus being born on December 25th and how this links in with winter solstice celebrations. The problem is that one thing pretty much all scholars agree on, skeptical and believers alike, is that Jesus was not born on December 25th. The NT describes the shepherds in the fields with their sheep at the time of Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:8) which would have been highly unlikely on December 25, and points more to the spring. The reason we celebrate December 25th is because a couple of centuries after the birth of Christ the church set that date deliberately to replace the Winter solstice celebrations, so of course there is a parallel to the winter solstice, but not for the reasons implied in the film. With this fact alone most of the first half of this part of the film falls apart.
Another problematic parallel is the movies’ claim that the cross is actually an astrological cross, symbolic of the zodiac. While again there may be a parallel here it is hardly meaningful, and in fact goes straight to the heart of the problem with such reasoning. What the movie ignores is that there is a very good reason Christians use the symbol of the cross and it has nothing at all to do with astrology. Christians refer to the cross because Jesus was crucified on a cross.
Similar problems arise with the claim that Jesus represents the sign of Pisces whose symbol is 2 fish. Predictably the movie points to the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 thousand. Yet interestingly while they show the text “we only have five loaves of bread and 2 Fish – Matt 14:17” the narrator says “Jesus feeds five thousand people with bread and two fish.” Note the number of loaves of bread is not mentioned by the narrator, while in the text five is spelled out, but not two. Why? The simple reason is that the fish make the parallel they seek, while the bread does not. Wouldn’t a better explanation for the two fish be that, fish were a common food source for that area and in fact if someone would have food, it probably would have been bread and fish?
Similarly the movie claims that people do not know what the fish symbol on their cars is actually “pagan astrological symbolism for the sun kingdom during the sign of Pisces.” Of course the real explanation does not fit their parallel, and so is ignored. Early Christians adopted the fish symbol, not for any astrological meaning, but because the Greek word for Fish, IXTHUS, is an acronym for Greek words “Jesus Christ God’s Son Savior.”
**With thanks to Elgin Hushback for his research on Zeitgeist
The take home message of The God Delusion is this: God is invented by mad, deluded people. Faith is blind trust in the absence of evidence. It is a process of non-thinking. We are the ones who have lost touch with reality. Belief in God is just like believing in the Tooth Fairy and Santa. We need to abandon these beliefs as soon as we are capable of evidence based thinking. The problem that he doesn’t address is why then are people discovering God later in life. The example of Anthony Flew, a noted atheist philosopher who came to know God in his eighties. Then there is Madalyn Murray O'Hair, son, Bill Murray who converted to Christianity in 1980 and was baptised at a Baptist church in Dallas, where he took up work as a preacher.
The book also does a good job of attacking the idea of intelligent design, but to take the book one step further, then who explains the explainer?
“Science has wrecked faith in God, relegating God to the margins of culture where he is embraced by deluded fanatics.”
He also devotes time to showing how science disproves God but unfortunately a lot of scientists do believe in God. It is not that simple of a straw argument that he is trying so hard to exploit. In fact 40% of scientists responded yes to the question, ‘do you believe in a personal God who might be expected to answer prayer?”
He states that believing in God in on the same level as cosmic teapots. Again he is very good at mocking, misrepresenting and demonizing competiting worldviews with his and tries to present them in the most naïve light as possible.
He tries to reduce religion to some single universal trait and tries to escape the universal complexity of it. Try to dumb down even the differences within Christianity and then within evangelicalism. There is great difference even between religiosity and belief in God because there are many who eschew religious behavior, but have incredible belief in God.
He also makes the assertation that the brain is a collection of organs for doing various cognitive functions and religion is a misfiring of these modules and therefore pathological. The question must then be asked, ‘are all ideas viruses of the mind?’
He then goes on to suggest that it is a ‘God-meme that has leapt into their brains,’ but even the scientific community largely sees this as a flaky idea.
He makes the bold claim that religion leads to violence, but that flies in the face of Jesus of Nazareth who did no violence. Then he has the audacity to state that there is not the smallest evidence that atheism systematically influences people to do bad things. Does he have selective memory. What about the Soviet era between 1918-1941 with their repression undertaken in an atheist agenda for the elimination of religion…Lenin and Stalin or Hitler with his focus on a perfect race. The reality is that human beings are capable of both violence and moral excellence motivated by their worldviews, religious or otherwise.
A criticism against religion is that on the formation of in groups and out groups yet Jesus completely turned that upside down in His teachings by the command to love our neighbour and enemy…the story of the Good Samaritan – half Jew/ half Greek.
Dawkins is right to identify to redefinition of family values as part of Jesus’ radical demands. However, even with the OT, he is highly selective of his texts leaving out such commands as to urge hospitality to strangers, setting limits on revenge, declaring a jubilee on debt and forbidding infant sacrifice – all in the Pentateuch, namely Leviticus and Deuteronomy.
He also overlooks the research done on physical health by those who follow a personal God to those who don’t as it relates to longevity of life, blood pressure and many other characteristics
Michael Shermer from the Skeptics Society affirms what Dawkins misses and that is this:
For every one of these grand tragedies there are 10 000 acts of personal kindness and social good that go unreported. Religion, like all social institutions of such historical depth cannot be reduced to an unambiguous good or evil.
The take home message of The God Delusion is this: God is invented by mad, deluded people. Faith is blind trust in the absence of evidence. It is a process of non-thinking. We are the ones who have lost touch with reality. Belief in God is just like believing in the Tooth Fairy and Santa. We need to abandon these beliefs as soon as we are capable of evidence based thinking. The problem that he doesn’t address is why then are people discovering God later in life. The example of Anthony Flew, a noted atheist philosopher who came to know God in his eighties. Then there is Madalyn Murray O'Hair, son, Bill Murray who converted to Christianity in 1980 and was baptised at a Baptist church in Dallas, where he took up work as a preacher.
The book also does a good job of attacking the idea of intelligent design, but to take the book one step further, then who explains the explainer?
“Science has wrecked faith in God, relegating God to the margins of culture where he is embraced by deluded fanatics.”
He also devotes time to showing how science disproves God but unfortunately a lot of scientists do believe in God. It is not that simple of a straw argument that he is trying so hard to exploit. In fact 40% of scientists responded yes to the question, ‘do you believe in a personal God who might be expected to answer prayer?”
He states that believing in God in on the same level as cosmic teapots. Again he is very good at mocking, misrepresenting and demonizing competiting worldviews with his and tries to present them in the most naïve light as possible.
He tries to reduce religion to some single universal trait and tries to escape the universal complexity of it. Try to dumb down even the differences within Christianity and then within evangelicalism. There is great difference even between religiosity and belief in God because there are many who eschew religious behavior, but have incredible belief in God.
He also makes the assertation that the brain is a collection of organs for doing various cognitive functions and religion is a misfiring of these modules and therefore pathological. The question must then be asked, ‘are all ideas viruses of the mind?’
He then goes on to suggest that it is a ‘God-meme that has leapt into their brains,’ but even the scientific community largely sees this as a flaky idea.
He makes the bold claim that religion leads to violence, but that flies in the face of Jesus of Nazareth who did no violence. Then he has the audacity to state that there is not the smallest evidence that atheism systematically influences people to do bad things. Does he have selective memory. What about the Soviet era between 1918-1941 with their repression undertaken in an atheist agenda for the elimination of religion…Lenin and Stalin or Hitler with his focus on a perfect race. The reality is that human beings are capable of both violence and moral excellence motivated by their worldviews, religious or otherwise.
A criticism against religion is that on the formation of in groups and out groups yet Jesus completely turned that upside down in His teachings by the command to love our neighbour and enemy…the story of the Good Samaritan – half Jew/ half Greek.
Dawkins is right to identify to redefinition of family values as part of Jesus’ radical demands. However, even with the OT, he is highly selective of his texts leaving out such commands as to urge hospitality to strangers, setting limits on revenge, declaring a jubilee on debt and forbidding infant sacrifice – all in the Pentateuch, namely Leviticus and Deuteronomy.
He also overlooks the research done on physical health by those who follow a personal God to those who don’t as it relates to longevity of life, blood pressure and many other characteristics
Michael Shermer from the Skeptics Society affirms what Dawkins misses and that is this:
For every one of these grand tragedies there are 10 000 acts of personal kindness and social good that go unreported. Religion, like all social institutions of such historical depth cannot be reduced to an unambiguous good or evil.
Research based on The Dawkins Delusion by Alister McGrath
The God that Dawkins does not believe in is “a petty, unjust, unforgiving control freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, on and on malevolent bully.
Well, guess what Richard Dawkins, we don’t believe in that God either!
Here is the God that we affirm!
The Bible simply affirms that God exists and to think otherwise, one is a fool in Psalm 14:1. The Word also claims that the one who seeks God will find him.
Who Is God?
He is a Transcendant Being.
God said to Moses, "I am who I am in Exodus 3:14 meaning that He transcends time and space. He is not contained within time, He is not contained within the universe. He does not need to occupy a place in order to exist. He is omnipresent. His power permeates the whole of our universe and he makes all things hold together. No one can escape the presence of God. Psalm 139:7-11 He is omnipotent and by that He has mastery and sovereignty over all things. The word Almighty is used of God 56x in Scripture. To Moses in Exodus 6:3; to believers in 2 Corinthians 6:18 and to John countless times in Revelation. However there are limits, He cannot be tempted by evil and He cannot sin, He cannot violate His own nature. He is omniscient. He numbers and names the stars. Psalm 147:4 He knows everything about our lives before we were born. Psalm 139:16
Malachi 3:6 teaches us that God is unchanging. He is perfectly consistent within Himself.
2. He is an Immanent Being.
By this I mean He is a Personal Being. We learn that he is capable of experiencing emotions such as pleasure, love, disappointment and indignation.
Immanence speaks of God being a Dynamic Being.
Genesis 1:1 introduces us to God as the one who conceives and designs the work of creation. Every good and perfect gift comes from Him James 1:17
Genesis 1:2 introduces us to God as the Spirit who watches over the works of creation
Genesis 1:3 introduces us to the Word of God, the agency through which God’s will is activated. The trinity of God begins here and is fully expressed through the whole of Scripture. John 1, Colossians 1:15
He continues to be active in His role today. He continues to actively call to himself people who desire to be part of His new creation. He is not willing that any should perish 2 Peter 3:9
3. God is Absolute Goodness.
O LORD, who is like you – majestic in holiness Exodus 15:11
When we view a starry night or snow capped mountain it gives us this awe, this wonder of untouched beauty, completely pristine. God is holy in His eternal nature apart from anything that He does.
God’s holiness is also reflected in His actions. The same Hebrew word that David uses to proclaim, “O taste and see that the LORD is good” appears repeatedly in the Genesis account of creation. Everything that is good is a reflection of His holiness.
The concept of holiness and goodness that describe God also characterize His laws and commands. Romans 7:12 states that “ The law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. It reflects Him.
Holiness and goodness not only manifest itself in His being and protecting what is good, but in His being of the one who restores goodness that was lost in light of the Fall.
The Genesis account is a love story that describes God acting according to His deepest desire…God so loved that He gave the world.
God is love 1 John 4:8,16
With God we see infinite patience and attention to every minute detail to establish this world capable of life.
He also has come to serve in love. The majestic God of the universe upon discovering the mess that resulted from the Fall searches for Adam and Eve, patiently drawing out the confession and consequences and anticipating the saving ministry of His Son. Genesis 3:15
4. God and the Problem of Evil
We learn that God creates human beings with the capacity to shun Him, defy Him, to thwart His creational purposes, to plunge into the chaos and bring the pollution of sin and death.
The Bible gives us a window into the world of the unseen as it relates to evil. We are introduced to prinicipalities, world rulers of this present darkness, spiritual hosts of wickedness in Ephesians 6:12
The presence of evil also reveals the free will of man granted to them by God. He sets objectives and purposes and even with all the twists and turns of human choices, God fulfills His purposes often bringing about the good through the evil. The ultimate value of God continues to transform and transcend the suffering that occurs in bringing them to realization. He is sovereign within history with those who accept His authority and over history, determining its outcomes.
God reveals that He meets us in our suffering as seen in Job 41:9
The God that Dawkins does not believe in is “a petty, unjust, unforgiving control freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, on and on malevolent bully.
Well, guess what Richard Dawkins, we don’t believe in that God either!
Here is the God that we affirm!
The Bible simply affirms that God exists and to think otherwise, one is a fool in Psalm 14:1. The Word also claims that the one who seeks God will find him.
Who Is God?
He is a Transcendant Being.
God said to Moses, "I am who I am in Exodus 3:14 meaning that He transcends time and space. He is not contained within time, He is not contained within the universe. He does not need to occupy a place in order to exist. He is omnipresent. His power permeates the whole of our universe and he makes all things hold together. No one can escape the presence of God. Psalm 139:7-11 He is omnipotent and by that He has mastery and sovereignty over all things. The word Almighty is used of God 56x in Scripture. To Moses in Exodus 6:3; to believers in 2 Corinthians 6:18 and to John countless times in Revelation. However there are limits, He cannot be tempted by evil and He cannot sin, He cannot violate His own nature. He is omniscient. He numbers and names the stars. Psalm 147:4 He knows everything about our lives before we were born. Psalm 139:16
Malachi 3:6 teaches us that God is unchanging. He is perfectly consistent within Himself.
2. He is an Immanent Being.
By this I mean He is a Personal Being. We learn that he is capable of experiencing emotions such as pleasure, love, disappointment and indignation.
Immanence speaks of God being a Dynamic Being.
Genesis 1:1 introduces us to God as the one who conceives and designs the work of creation. Every good and perfect gift comes from Him James 1:17
Genesis 1:2 introduces us to God as the Spirit who watches over the works of creation
Genesis 1:3 introduces us to the Word of God, the agency through which God’s will is activated. The trinity of God begins here and is fully expressed through the whole of Scripture. John 1, Colossians 1:15
He continues to be active in His role today. He continues to actively call to himself people who desire to be part of His new creation. He is not willing that any should perish 2 Peter 3:9
3. God is Absolute Goodness.
O LORD, who is like you – majestic in holiness Exodus 15:11
When we view a starry night or snow capped mountain it gives us this awe, this wonder of untouched beauty, completely pristine. God is holy in His eternal nature apart from anything that He does.
God’s holiness is also reflected in His actions. The same Hebrew word that David uses to proclaim, “O taste and see that the LORD is good” appears repeatedly in the Genesis account of creation. Everything that is good is a reflection of His holiness.
The concept of holiness and goodness that describe God also characterize His laws and commands. Romans 7:12 states that “ The law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. It reflects Him.
Holiness and goodness not only manifest itself in His being and protecting what is good, but in His being of the one who restores goodness that was lost in light of the Fall.
The Genesis account is a love story that describes God acting according to His deepest desire…God so loved that He gave the world.
God is love 1 John 4:8,16
With God we see infinite patience and attention to every minute detail to establish this world capable of life.
He also has come to serve in love. The majestic God of the universe upon discovering the mess that resulted from the Fall searches for Adam and Eve, patiently drawing out the confession and consequences and anticipating the saving ministry of His Son. Genesis 3:15
4. God and the Problem of Evil
We learn that God creates human beings with the capacity to shun Him, defy Him, to thwart His creational purposes, to plunge into the chaos and bring the pollution of sin and death.
The Bible gives us a window into the world of the unseen as it relates to evil. We are introduced to prinicipalities, world rulers of this present darkness, spiritual hosts of wickedness in Ephesians 6:12
The presence of evil also reveals the free will of man granted to them by God. He sets objectives and purposes and even with all the twists and turns of human choices, God fulfills His purposes often bringing about the good through the evil. The ultimate value of God continues to transform and transcend the suffering that occurs in bringing them to realization. He is sovereign within history with those who accept His authority and over history, determining its outcomes.
God reveals that He meets us in our suffering as seen in Job 41:9
The Takeaway
You can choose whose version of God you will believe, man’s or God’s?
Joshua 24:15b But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord
For Discussion for Small Groups - Take time to walk through the names of God
You can choose whose version of God you will believe, man’s or God’s?
Joshua 24:15b But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord
For Discussion for Small Groups - Take time to walk through the names of God
The Names of God
Elohim – It comes from the root word to fear and indicates Deity. In its general sense it is used primarily in the OT. He is the mighty leader, He is supreme. It speaks of God’s transcendence.
A compound name of this word is El Shaddai which connects the Mighty One standing on a mountain. It is the way that God appeared to the patriarchs to give comfort and confirmation of His covenant.
El Eyon is another compound name meaning the most High God emphasizing His strength, sovereignty and supremacy. It was used first by Melchizedek in blessing Abraham in Genesis 14:19
El Olam means the everlasting God and is used of the God of eternity in Genesis 21:33
El Roi is used in Genesis 16:13 as the God who sees in relation to Hagar who gave this name to God in response to her being shunned by Sarai with Ishmael’s birth.
YAHWEH - LORD – the personal, covenanting God. It emphasizes His changeless existence, His presence with people and His connection to work on behalf of His people as illustrated in Israel’s deliverance out of Egypt.
Many compounds of this name
Yahweh Jireh – the Lord will Provide Genesis 22:14
Yahweh Nissi – the Lord is my Banner Exodus 17:15 in response to the defeat of the Amalekites.
Yahweh Shalom – the Lord is Peace Judges 6:24
Yahweh Sabbaoth – the Lord of hosts 1 Samuel 1:3 the Lord, the commander of angelic armies
Yahweh Maccaddeshcem – the Lord your Sanctifier Ex 31:13
Yahweh Roi – the Lord is my Shepherd Ps 23
Yahweh Tsidkenu – the Lord our Righteousness Jeremiah 23:6
Yahweh Shammah – the Lord is there Ezekiel 48:35
Yahweh Elohim Israel – the Lord, the God of Israel Judges 5:3
Adonai / Kurios
Elohim – It comes from the root word to fear and indicates Deity. In its general sense it is used primarily in the OT. He is the mighty leader, He is supreme. It speaks of God’s transcendence.
A compound name of this word is El Shaddai which connects the Mighty One standing on a mountain. It is the way that God appeared to the patriarchs to give comfort and confirmation of His covenant.
El Eyon is another compound name meaning the most High God emphasizing His strength, sovereignty and supremacy. It was used first by Melchizedek in blessing Abraham in Genesis 14:19
El Olam means the everlasting God and is used of the God of eternity in Genesis 21:33
El Roi is used in Genesis 16:13 as the God who sees in relation to Hagar who gave this name to God in response to her being shunned by Sarai with Ishmael’s birth.
YAHWEH - LORD – the personal, covenanting God. It emphasizes His changeless existence, His presence with people and His connection to work on behalf of His people as illustrated in Israel’s deliverance out of Egypt.
Many compounds of this name
Yahweh Jireh – the Lord will Provide Genesis 22:14
Yahweh Nissi – the Lord is my Banner Exodus 17:15 in response to the defeat of the Amalekites.
Yahweh Shalom – the Lord is Peace Judges 6:24
Yahweh Sabbaoth – the Lord of hosts 1 Samuel 1:3 the Lord, the commander of angelic armies
Yahweh Maccaddeshcem – the Lord your Sanctifier Ex 31:13
Yahweh Roi – the Lord is my Shepherd Ps 23
Yahweh Tsidkenu – the Lord our Righteousness Jeremiah 23:6
Yahweh Shammah – the Lord is there Ezekiel 48:35
Yahweh Elohim Israel – the Lord, the God of Israel Judges 5:3
Adonai / Kurios
Like Elohim, it is a plural of majesty. The singular means Lord, master, owner Genesis 19:2 It conveys God’s absolute authority. The NT equivalent is Kurios. Colossians 3:22 also used mainly by Luke and Paul.
God – Theos
It is the most frequently used in the NT speaking of Him being the only one true God. Matthew 23:9. It teaches His uniqueness1 Timothy 1:17, that He is transcendent Acts 17:24 and the Savior 1 Timothy 1:1 It also is the word that is used of Christ as God in 1 John 5:20
Master
This word connects God to ownership and is used by Peter in Acts 4:24; the martyrs in heaven Revelation 6:10
FATHER
It is used of God in the OT only 15x, but 245x in the NT. God gives His children peace, grace as a salutation in the epistles, He gives good gifts in James and commandments and as we address Him in prayer. Romans 8
God – Theos
It is the most frequently used in the NT speaking of Him being the only one true God. Matthew 23:9. It teaches His uniqueness1 Timothy 1:17, that He is transcendent Acts 17:24 and the Savior 1 Timothy 1:1 It also is the word that is used of Christ as God in 1 John 5:20
Master
This word connects God to ownership and is used by Peter in Acts 4:24; the martyrs in heaven Revelation 6:10
FATHER
It is used of God in the OT only 15x, but 245x in the NT. God gives His children peace, grace as a salutation in the epistles, He gives good gifts in James and commandments and as we address Him in prayer. Romans 8
4 comments:
It only goes to show that the sign of the cross, the fish symbol, and Christmas should not be applied to the worship of Father Yahweh.
THE SIGN OF THE CROSS
A Pagan Symbol?
http://www.angelfire.com/wy/Franklin4YAHWEH/Cross.htm
Something's Fishy!
http://www.angelfire.com/hi2/YAHWEHFrank/SomethingFishy.html
Satan Claws
http://www.angelfire.com/hi2/YAHWEHFrank/SatanClaws.html
They are all symbols to proclaim the worship of Jesus who I believe is God in His complete essence. "I and the Father are one" John 10:30 It was for that very reason they crucified Him not accepting Him as the Messiah. The cross is a symbol which has lost its power in many ways as many use it as a fashion statement, but for those of us who love Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, it is our salvation. Christmas was just a missional way to hijack a pagan holiday and celebrate Christ's incarnation. I will share more about Christ in my next blog.
You write Research based on The Dawkins Delusion by Alister McGrath - does that mean you have not actually read Dawkin's book and are just paraphrasing what McGrath claims Dawkins wrote?
I read "Is God Poison" in Macleans magazine which has articles written with an overview of his book
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